RAMALLAH, December 11, 2017 (WAFA) – Rallies against the US move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital hit the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies on Monday.
The dailies reported that scores of Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces suppressed demonstrations that continued to rock the occupied Palestinian territories for the fourth consecutive day.
Al-Hayat al-Jadida added in its main front page item that a million descended on the Moroccan capital, Rabat, in protest against the US move on Jerusalem.
It also spotlighted a rally by hundreds of Lebanese against the US move outside the US embassy in Beirut.
Highlighting another protest against the US move, al-Quds said protestors in Bethlehem declared US Vice President Mike Pence, who plans to visit Bethlehem on December 19, as a persona non grata.
Highlighting a press conference condemning the US move on Jerusalem, al-Quds said that Palestinian figures who attended the conference called for boycotting all US institutions.
The dailies said President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Cairo ahead of a summit with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the US move.
Al-Ayyam added the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee is set to convene on Monday in Ramallah over the US move.
The dailies also spotlighted official Arab, regional and international chorus of condemnations of the US move on Jerusalem.
According to al-Quds and al-Ayyam, the Jordanian House of Representatives has unanimously agreed to revisit the agreements signed between Jordan and Israel, including the Wadi Araba Treaty.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II was reported in al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida stating that Jerusalem was the key to achieving peace and stability in the region.
Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida said French President Emmanuel Macron affirmed his opposition to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
Al-Ayyam added Macron called on Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank as part of gestures towards the Palestinian people to break the peace impasse.
Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida added Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan describing Israel as a “terrorist state.”
Al-Quds and al-Ayyam reported that an Israeli sustained critical injuries after being stabbed by a Palestinian young man in Jerusalem.
The dailies highlighted developments related to the planned handover of power in Gaza from Hamas to the national consensus government under the landmark reconciliation agreement.
Al-Quds reported member of Fatah Central Committee Azzam al-Ahmad stating in this regard that it is the government which declares that it has assumed its powers in Gaza and not the factions.
He was also reported in al-Ayyam slamming Hamas’ rollback on transferring tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Finance as an obstacle to empowering the government to assume its responsibilities.
Al-Quds said Palestinians in Jerusalem denied a Bahraini delegation who visited Israel entry in East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
Al-Ayyam said Arab foreign ministers called for a UN Security Council resolution condemning the US move on Jerusalem and might hold an extraordinary summit in Jordan.
K.F./M.K.
